


Start of the Endless Story

by 0bviousLeigh



Category: SNH48
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 15:21:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16856470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: At a school for witches, a storm is brewing.





	Start of the Endless Story

**Author's Note:**

> A prequel to [this MV,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7OvCY0AbSg) you don't need to watch it to enjoy the story but it is a cool MV.

It’s a beautiful spring morning, the first one where no one needed their cloaks when they left their dorms. Morning classes have just let out for the brief break before lunch, and the students scatter to spend their free time as they please.

Li YiTong gestures to a willow tree a few meters away. “The usual spot?” she asks.

Qian BeiTing nods. “Yes, let’s go.”

Before sitting, BeiTing uses her unique gift of fire to dry the grass—it’s a technique that took her years to perfect, not actually making a flame (as it would burn the grass) but creating just enough heat to evaporate any remaining dew. She and YiTong settle in the shade of the tree and get started on their homework. It hasn’t been long before they hear the tell-tale mutterings of their friend.

“I am actually going to kill her this time,” Mo Han vows as she stomps up to the tree and flings herself down on the grass.

YiTong doesn’t even look up from her book. “No you won’t,” she says.

“God as my witness I will,” Mo Han reiterates.

“Please don’t, I need her for my group project,” BeiTing says.

Mo Han sighs and folds her arms. “Switch roommates with me, then.”

“I’ll think about it,” BeiTing promises. She’ll do no such thing, she rather likes having Yue as a roommate, and certainly doesn’t want JiaQi summoning spirits during the night.

“What did she do, anyway?” YiTong asks.

“She summoned a spirit to get her a glass of water!” Mo Han explodes. “I woke up with this shadow walking next to my bed! I freaked out! Any normal witch would have just refilled her goblet with a water spell, but noooo, she summons a shadow to do it for her!”

BeiTing and YiTong exchange tired smiles.

 

* * *

 

“Please, please, please teach me!” Lu Ting begs.

XinDuo covers her ears. “I am not listening to you, la la la!”

Lu Ting grabs XinDuo’s arm and tugs on it. “Please, oh please, oh please teach me your secrets! I will literally sell you my soul and be your slave for all eternity!”

JiaQi leans in to LeiLei and whispers, “I bet you three raven quills XinDuo caves this time.”

LeiLei responds, “I’d take that bet but I don’t have any raven quills.”

“I don’t want you to do that!” XinDuo shrieks.

“Then I will do anything you want! Please, I’ll never remember all these formulas and I can’t fail!”

“I don’t want you to fail but I can’t help you!” XinDuo insists.

It’s true, she really can’t—each student at the school has a unique magical gift, and it’s forbidden for the girls to share the secrets of their gift with anyone else.

“Wait, I have it!” Lu Ting gasps. “What if we make an appearance changing potion, and you pretend to be me?”

“She’ll never agree to that,” LeiLei says.

But XinDuo bites her lip. “Well…it’s better than teaching you my memory spell…”

LeiLei’s jaw drops. “I did not see that coming!”

JiaQi taps a finger against her chin. “I bet you an ink pot that they can’t make the potion right.”

“Oh, you’re on,” LeiLei says, “Let’s go find ShanShan.”

 

* * *

 

In the school kitchen, three students take their turn preparing side dishes for the school lunch. Dai Meng chops vegetables, Zhao Yue prepares rice bowls, and Duan YiXuan does the rest. All the students rotate on the job, except for Duan YiXuan, who can make copies of herself and loves to cook.

YiXuan hands a stack of plates to her doppelganger. “Set these on the serving table, please.”

The doppelganger nods and sets off, feet making not a single sound on the floor.

“Creeps me the hell out,” Dai Meng mutters, glancing at the doppelganger and narrowly avoiding slicing her fingers.

“Watch yourself,” Yue warns. “Don’t bleed on the cucumbers or YiXuan will murder you.”

An owl soars through the open kitchen window and YiXuan lets out a shriek. “WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT THIS?!”

The owl lands in a flash of light and Wu ZheHan crouches in its’ place. “I have news!” ZheHan cries.

“NO OWL FEATHERS IN THE KITCHEN!” YiXuan continues, as if ZheHan hadn’t spoken.

“I imagine ZheHan’s feathers are cleaner than most things in this kitchen,” Dai Meng says.

“Are you not hearing me?” ZheHan demands.

“You have news,” Yue says. “So, tell us.”

“And peel those carrots while you’re at it,” YiXuan demands. “Lunch starts in twenty minutes!”

ZheHan flicks her wand at the carrots. “So Lu Ting was begging XinDuo to teach her memory spells again…”

“Don’t tell me she caved?” Dai Meng gasps.

“No, they’re going to brew an appearance potion and swap places for the next test!”

Yue laughs. “Oh no, not those two!”

“That’s not the best part,” ZheHan continues, “JiaQi bet LeiLei that they wouldn’t brew it right, and LeiLei took the bet!”

“That poor girl,” Dai Meng says, “I guess she never took potions with either of them.”

“They only bet an ink pot on it,” ZheHan continues. “I say we bet on whether or not they’ll get YiTong to brew the potion for them.”

“Can the reward for my bet be your compliance with my no owls in the kitchen rule?” YiXuan asks.

“Depends on which side of the bet you’re on,” ZheHan teases. She turns to leave and finds herself face to face with YiXuan’s doppelganger.

The ensuing shriek startles Dai Meng so badly that she slices her finger. In her haste to heal Dai Meng, Yue trips and upends the table with the rice bowls.

“GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN!” YiXuan screams.

The trio hastily obey.

 

* * *

 

“I’ll trade you three of my crystals for one school tie,” XiaoYin says.

“Clarify that you want it clean,” ShanShan advises.

“A clean school tie,” XiaoYin amends.

YuGe squints at her. “Three crystals and a homework assignment of my choosing.”

XiaoYin shakes her head. “If I wanted to spend my time doing your homework, I’d actually do my laundry.”

“Ugh fine, three crystals it is, but don’t try to cheat me with little ones.”

ShanShan makes a note in her planner. “YuGe and XiaoYin agree to trade three crystals for one clean school tie.” She closes the planner with a snap. “Alright, the deal is made. But you know, you really didn’t need me for that.”

“I suppose not,” YuGe agrees, but it’s just something they all do. ShanShan is pretty honest, so whenever people make deals they have her observe it, even if it’s for something trivial.

“Honestly, I thought you guys were calling me to bet on Lu Ting and XinDuo.”

“Oh, what are they doing?” XiaoYin asks.

“Brewing an appearance potion so XinDuo can take Lu Ting’s upcoming test for her,” ShanShan says with a grin, opening her book again. “I’ve observed several bets thus far. Care to join in?”

YuGe gasps, “Oh, I bet you that homework assignment that they brew the potion right but get caught anyway!”

“Oh, you are so on! I bet they blow something up while brewing the potion and I wager…a weeks’ worth of laundry!”

“Wait, I do your laundry for a week if you win? Because NO WAY!”

ShanShan grins as the two begin to bicker. Oh, she loves watching people place bets on her classmates antics.

 

* * *

 

“You hear about XinDuo and Lu Ting?” SiYi asks.

“Honestly, who hasn’t?” TingTing asks. “It’s not even the end of break yet.”

“You think the teachers know?”

“If they have, I guess they don’t care, because we would have heard about it by now if they had put a stop to it.”

That makes SiYi frown. “Wait, what time is it?”

TingTing looks at her watch. “Huh…five after.”

“Why hasn’t the principal called us for lunch yet?”

“Dunno…maybe it’s not ready?”

SiYi starts gathering her books. “Let’s head over and find out.”

 

* * *

 

The girls have all gathered at the cafeteria, each looking puzzled as to why they’re still waiting to be summoned.

XinDuo spots Yue. “Hey, weren’t you making lunch today?”

“YiXuan kicked us out,” Yue says, “But she seemed to have it under control.”

The door opens and YiXuan stands, looking as confused as everyone else. “Well, come in,” she says, “I didn’t slave over this food for you all to stand outside.”

YiTong hesitates. “I’m going to go see if I can find someone.”

The girls enter the cafeteria and begin to eat, but soon they hear a piercing shriek from the classrooms. XinDuo and TingTing leap up and head in the direction of the scream, wands drawn. From the end of the hall, a black shadow rushes toward them and as it nears they see it’s a humanoid figure wearing a golden mask. They fire spells at it, but it swoops up and vanishes through the ceiling. YiTong comes running down the hall, her face white as a sheet.

“Did you see that?!” All three girls shout.

“I couldn’t find any teachers!” YiTong shouts, “And then I saw that—that THING—in the potions rooms, and I tried to stun it but it dodged all my spells!”

The rest of the students come running, all of them exclaiming and asking what just happened.

“Split up!” TingTing orders, “Wait, no, pair off, everyone with a buddy, search the school and find a teacher, or an adult, anyone!”

But hours pass. The students search the classrooms, the grounds, the restrooms, and the dorms. Eventually they all gather back in the cafeteria, slowly taking the seats they had at lunch. Their food is still out, cold and unappetizing, not that any of them feel like eating.

YiTong and XinDuo are the last to come back, looking tired and unsure.

“What now?” ShanShan asks.

“Maybe this is a test?” Lu Ting asks.

TingTing, XinDuo and YiTong exchange looks, then fill the rest of the students in on the shadowy figure they saw. The other students are stunned and silent as they describe what they saw.

“Okay,” Yue finally says, “I sure hope this isn’t a test.”

“So, what happens now?” SiYi asks. “Should we all…go home?”

“Should we call the police?” XiaoYin asks.

“I think we should stay,” YiTong says.

Everyone goes quiet. YiTong is the number one student at the school…does that make her de facto leader?

“But there’s no one to teach us,” XinDuo says. “So what will we do?”

“Try to find out what’s happening,” YiTong says. “I mean, aren’t we witches? Isn’t this the sort of thing we’ll have to do once we graduate anyway? What’s the harm in giving it a try?”

“People are missing,” Lu Ting says.

“We could die,” Mo Han says dryly.

“Well I’m with YiTong,” Yue says. “I think between us we have some kind of chance. As she said, we are witches.”

“And no one has to stay,” YiTong says, “If anyone wants to leave, there’s no shame.”

Lu Ting bites her lip. “If we start to feel overwhelmed…”

“We find outside help,” YiTong says.

Lu Ting sighs. “Okay, I’m in.”

Slowly, the other girls agree to give it a shot. It looks like all they’ve learned is about to be put to the test.


End file.
